Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

At noon, Leon and Makoto resumed the journey, and when night came, they flew toward the point where they would set the diversion. Although the train rails crossed the entire country, there wasn't enough room for more than one train to work at the same time. Thanks to that, Leon and Makoto arrived on the valley covered in snow, where they would set the diversion and hide the espionage device several hours early than Seiji.

"According to the information I have, the train left the east side of the Russian territory yesterday." Makoto grabbed the map and showed Leon the stations where the train always stopped to receive the resources. "The train right now is probably here in Neryungri picking up Seiji and my daughter. They probably won't stop to receive the resources since they imagine that I sent troops to rescue Yuki. So, we have a little more than five hours to prepare the diversion."

"I guess this is more than enough," Leon said. "To make your job easier, I will make an underground tunnel."

"Thank you," Makoto said.

Although Makoto had a clear plan of action, Leon could visibly see in his eyes his uneasiness. To avoid big problems, it was better to chase them from afar while obtaining information, but it was clear that Makoto wanted to rescue Yuki in that valley if he could.

"If I had some means to cancel magic and magic items, we wouldn't have to be so cautious. But I guess something like that is even difficult to learn than learn how to heal wounds. Besides, if I learn how to create a zone where magic items don't work, I won't be able to use my magic either..."

There was no point in dwelling in something that he couldn't do, so Leon started to make the underground tunnel. Seiji and Yuki would be most likely in the first wagon, so he created the end of the tunnel where he imagined they would stop. However, that was difficult. So, he ended up putting the bodies of some monsters above the train rails. That was also a bit suspicious, so he ended up spreading around the corpses of the monsters around in order to make that the monsters killed themselves. Since the monsters could only use ice magic, he killed them with Ice Arrows to make things look more convincing.

"That's why I hate roundabout methods... I have to consider every single small detail..."

Leon spent a lot of time making the tunnel and spreading those corpses. Fortunately, his skeletons lured the nearby monsters and were holding them back until the train comes.

Just like Makoto predicted, the train appeared after five hours. In order not to derail the vehicle, Seiji gave the order to stop. Even from far away, Leon and Makoto could see Seiji and Yuki sitting on the same wagon. Again, just like Makoto had expected, Seiji used handcuffs to prevent any attempts of rescue or escape.

"I knew it... by doing that, Seiji can teleport both of them at the same time if something happens." Makoto clenched his teeth. "... I'm going; you can deactivate your skeletons."

Leon nodded, and Makoto entered the tunnel. Fortunately, the end of the tunnel was right below the wagon where Seiji and Yuki were, and since Seiji's men and their escorts were too busy with the corpses, they wouldn't notice the hole under the train rails. To avoid surprises, Leon reinforced the walls of the tunnel with steel. So, it was safe, probably.

Regardless, Leon made his skeletons disappear. So, the monsters who had already noticed the sound of the train started to run toward it. The escorts and Seiji lackeys armed themselves for the battle... that being said, the confusion didn't last even thirty seconds. Those creatures were small fries, after all. However, Makoto had time to install the espionage device in the lower part of the train. When he returned, the train started to move again.

"It's done," Makoto said. "However, I can only hear their conversation as long as we are five hundred meters away from them."

"Don't worry; we have plenty of snow here," Leon said. "We can move without being noticed by satellites."

Leon created an earth box and covered all sides with snow. Things got a bit too cold, but by using his own ice magic, he made the ice around the box harder and unable to melt... at least for a few hours. Then, flying close to the snow, they started to chase the train. Makoto took a radio out of his magic bag and then adjusted the frequency. When Leon finally could see the train, the radio also started to work. Despite the fact that the device was below the train, the sound was quite good. Leon couldn't understand what they were talking about, but Makoto translated their conversation.

"Lady Yuki, you should eat," Seiji said. "I cannot let you die of hunger of thirst."

"Go to hell," Yuki said.

Despite the situation, Yuki seemed like always. Makoto even chuckled when he heard that, he was aware that Yuki was... quite a harsh woman.

"Listen to a piece of advice of someone who once served your family loyally," Seiji said. "You won't get anywhere with that kind of attitude. Even if you try, you won't die of hunger and thirst. If you try suicide, we have a lot of potions to prevent that."

"Well, the same thing won't happen to you," Yuki said. "Traitors don't live long lives, you know."

"Who can live a long life with the world in this state?" Seiji asked. "Anyway, with your harsh attitude and stubbornness, you'll only have a difficult life ahead. I'm treating you well while I can, but the man who will look after you won't be as kind as I'm. He'll mistreat you in unimaginable ways until you show nothing but completely obedience toward him and don't be mistaken, the more trouble you cause, the more he will enjoy the process of 'taming' you."